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Fire Commissioner Nigro Shares Holiday & Winter Safety Tips

December 13, 2016 — As temperatures drop, FDNY reminds the city to take precautions when heating homes

With the holidays – and frigid weather – approaching, Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro will be at the Union Square Holiday Market at the Corner of E. 15th Street and Union Square West on Wednesday, December 14, at 11 a.m., to urge New Yorkers to be fire smart this holiday season and throughout the winter months when more home fires occur.

“As the holiday season and colder months approach, we must take smart and simple measures to make our homes fire safe,” said Commissioner Nigro. “We can all do our part in preventing tragedies by being extremely careful when using candles, space heaters, extension cords and stoves, and by making sure we have working smoke and CO alarms in our homes.”

Commissioner Nigro will be joined by members of the FDNY Fire Safety Education unit who will distribute fire safety education materials to New Yorkers in multiple languages in anticipation of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s.

There are several precautionary steps to take for the holiday season:•Make sure you have a working smoke detector on every level of your home.•Choose a freshly cut tree. Live trees need water, check and refill often. Keep your tree away from heat sources, sparks or flames.•Ensure power strips and extension cords are Underwriters Laboratory (UL) certified.•Keep lit candles away from decorations and all combustible objects.•Do not leave lit holiday candles unattended.•Some lights are meant for indoor or outdoor use only. Make sure you are using lights properly.•Discard and do not use lights that have loose bulb connections.•Read instructions to learn the number of light strands you can safely connect.•Use clips, not nails, to hang lights, so the wiring does not get damaged.

Additional tips in practicing fire safety during frigid temperatures:•Space heaters should be on a flat surface at least three feet from anything that can burn and should always be turned off when leaving a room or going to sleep. •Never use the kitchen oven or gas range to heat your home or apartment. This could lead to an accumulation of dangerous levels for carbon monoxide, which can lead to serious illness, or even death.•The use of kerosene heaters is illegal in New York City.•Use electric blankets only if they have the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Mark and are less than 10 years old. Blankets that are 10 years or older account for 99% of all electric blanket fires.